Best Walks on Exmoor: Favourite Routes Across the Moor, Valleys and Coast

Variety is the outstanding joy of Exmoor. If it had been situated in some landlocked part of the country it would have been wonderful enough – but because it is perched beside the sea there is something about the nation’s least visited national park that pushes far more buttons in the way of expectation and excitement. 

Of course, there are swathes of Exmoor where you cannot spy the sea, but a short climb up the nearest hill will probably give you at least a glimpse of the great blue beyond. 

You can almost smell it when one of the prevailing westerlies is blowing, and it is a wind that brings with it famously clean air. There are rare lichens growing on Exmoor that you will find nowhere else in Europe because of pollution. 

It is arguable that no other place in the region lends itself so well to walking. The hills boast huge areas of open access land where you can wander wherever you wish. Because of the topography, the area is rich in circular walks, which will take you into numerous different habitats.

A brave swimmer crosses lonely Pinkery Pond

Exmoor Walks – Quick Guide

Location: Exmoor National Park, located in the counties of Somerset & DevonBest for: Moorland views, wooded valleys and coastal cliffsWildlife: Red deer, Exmoor ponies, birds of preyBest starting points: Dunkery Beacon, Tarr Steps, Valley of Rocks, Dulverton, Porlock

Typical distance: 3–10 miles

Best time to visit: Any time, but avoid high summer when some locations can be crowded. Spring and autumn are popular with walkers but many increasingly visit Exmoor in the depths of winter when you have a good chance of walking for miles without seeing a soul. 

Also because of the topography, Exmoor offers endless opportunities to broaden the horizons of your visit in a single day. You could, for example, enjoy the popular and dramatic seaside resort of Lynmouth in the morning – ride on the thrilling funicular railway up to Lynton and call in at the famous Valley of Rocks – then have lunch in a moorland pub and afterwards escape the madding crowd by taking a stroll over some high lonely heath in the afternoon.

Wild red stags roam the moors

Just 10,600 residents are scattered across this vast area in which only three settlements have more than 1,300 souls. Farmland accounts for 56 percent of the land usage, 27.5 per cent is moorland and 12 per cent woodland. 

Being so sparsely populated, it is a haven for wildlife. Most famously, Exmoor plays host to England’s largest herd of wild red deer. The national park’s other claim to fame is the humble Exmoor pony, thought to be more closely related to the original wild horse than any other breed, save for the extremely rare Przewalski pony. 

The high moors - no roads, no houses for miles

High Moor Walks

Examples:

• Dunkery Beacon - Exmoor’s highest hill offers a superb vantage point. Some argue the 1705-foot hill has the best views to be found anywhere in Southern England. Read the full walk: Dunkery Beacon Walk

• Withypool Hill - a lonely upland off the beaten track. Filled with ancient history, Neolithic  barrows rub shoulders with standing stones and other relics of the distant past. A good place to spot the semi-wild Exmoor ponies.

• The Chains and Western Exmoor - the loneliest part of the national park. This high and remote area can be boggy in winter but it hides any number of unexpected surprises such as Pinkery Pond and the ruins of Hoar Oak Cottage.

Snowdrops abound in Exmoor's valleys at the end of January

River Valley Walks

Examples:

• Tarr Steps & River Barle - tucked under Withypool Common this famous river valley plays host to a remarkable ancient clapper bridge as well as deep woodlands making it a perfect place to hike if the Atlantic gales are blowing across the high moors. 

• Horner Woods - home of the British version of a rainforest. The deep river valleys to the north of the Dunkery range play host to ancient oak woods which are covered in rare mosses and lichens. One of the most scenic cores of the national park.

• Watersmeet - deep in the valley where the East and West Lyn Rivers join forces - this is one of the best known spots in the national park and, for good measure, it has a wonderful National Trust tea-room.  

Exmoor's coast in winter

Coastal Walks

Examples:

• Valley of Rocks - one of the great walking areas of Exmoor. This remarkable valley hangs above Exmoor’s vertiginous coast. The setting for a million Instagram posts, this wild and rocky valley has something for everyone - you can simply wander across to the tearoom or watch a match being played none of the most scenic cricket pitches to be found anywhere in the world, or go marching off around the hills and cliffs to see the wild goats that live among the rocks. 

• Porlock Weir - perhaps one of the most beautiful hidden gems of Exmoor. The tiny little harbour sits at the end of Porlock Vale - there are some wonderful refreshment opportunities for those who want to go off hiking along Exmoor’s steep and lonely coast.  

• Culbone Church - just a couple of miles west along the steep Exmoor coastline from Porlock Weir - the diminutive stone-built temple in the woods is actually the smallest complete church in all of the UK. You have to talk to it - you cannot visit by car - one of the must-do hikes of Exmoor National Park.  

Exmoor has an impressive network of way-marked walks

Where Are These Walks?

The national park covers 693 square kilometres with two thirds located in West Somerset and one third in North Devon. The boundary extends from the vale of West Somerset in the east, almost as far as Ilfracombe and the foothills above Barnstaple in the west - to the south it falls away towards South Molton and to the north it is bordered by the vertiginous shores of the Bristol Channel.

When to Walk on Exmoor

• In late January the snowdrops poke their heads out of the froxen soils - so much so on Exmoor that the village of Wheddon Cross even stages special daily walks to Snowdrop Valley.

• Often in spring the flanks of the moors turn yellow with gorse flowers.

• At the same time the deep valleys coombes can be filled with wild garlic.

• In August the high heather more are famous for their colour - often the purple heather mixes wonderfully with a second flowering of the yellow gorse.

• Later in the autumn you might well hear the roaring that goes on among the large herds of wild red deer. Locally it’s known as “bulving”. There even used to be an annual competition to see which person could emulate the deep roars of the red deer stags who call to one another and often fight antler to antler during the autumnal mating season. 

• Some people like this small but intimate national park best in winter. You are more or less guaranteed solitude - but the moors are now popular enough so that many local hostelries will eon for lunch all year round. Nothing better than a bracing walk at over 1000 feet inn a westerly gale, followed by a warming lunch by a log fire in some ancient pub.

Walkers high above the coast at Glenthorne

Why I love Exmoor

See all of the above. I was born on the edge of Exmoor and have lived inside the national park for most of my life - and my father was a well known journalist who lived and worked in the area. So Exmoor runs through my veins like its fast flowing rivers run from the the high moors. 

So obviously, I am biased. But I will say this which I believe to be a fact - and it’s a repetition of what I said at the begging of this post… Variety is the outstanding joy of Exmoor. In so many places you can walk for 20 or 30 minutes and the general view won’t change much at all - on Exmoor things are different. So intimate are the hills and rivers valleys thanks to the soft red sandstone the nation park is based on, that things can change drastically within just a ten minute stroll. 

You could be hiking across a seemingly featureless plain one minute, and gazing down into a deep tree-lined ravine the next. Or perhaps you could be wandering through a thick woodland, then ten minutes later be perched on top of a dizzying sea-cliff. No other landscape I know offers such variety.     

Exmoor ponies aren't at all bothered by the snows of winter